“Punishment” From Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(pain). Capital punishment was by hanging (2 Sam. 21:6); stoning (Ex. 17:4; John 10:31); burning (Gen. 38:24); shooting (Ex. 19:13); the sword (1 Kings 2:25); drowning (Matt. 18:6); sawing (2 Sam. 12:31); crucifixion. The death penalty was inflicted for parental reviling, blasphemy, adultery, rape, idolatry, perjury. Secondary punishments were generally those of retaliation, an “eye for an eye,” etc. (Ex. 21:23-25; Deut. 19:18-21).
“Avenge, Avenger” From Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
Exaction of just satisfaction (Luke 18:8; 1 Thess. 4:6). “Avenger of Blood” was the pursuer of a slayer to avenge the blood of the slain. He must be a relative of the dead one (Deut. 19:6).
“Punishment” From Concise Bible Dictionary:
The law required that capital punishment should be inflicted for reviling a parent, blasphemy, sabbath-breaking, witchcraft, adultery, man-stealing, idolatry, murder, etc. Capital punishment was by stoning (Deut. 13:10); burning (Lev. 20:14); the sword (Ex. 32:27); and hanging (Deut. 21:22-23). It appears that those who sinned at Baal-peor were first slain, and then hanged or impaled (Num. 25:4-5); the word is yaqa, and for hanging is used only here and in 2 Samuel 21:6,9,13, when the seven descendants of Saul were “hung up to the Lord,” which may also signify being impaled. There is no record in scripture of crucifixion being practiced among the Jews. Capital punishment was at times carried out in ways not mentioned in the law: sawing asunder and cutting with harrows and axes (2 Sam. 12:31; Heb. 11:37); precipitation (2 Chron. 25:12; Luke 4:29).
For minor offenses there was flogging, which was restricted to forty stripes (Deut. 25:3). A whip with three thongs accounts for the “forty stripes less one” (2 Cor. 11:24). Also placing in the stocks (Jer. 20:2-3). In other cases the punishment was according to the offense: “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” (Exod. 21:24-25). Imprisonment for definite periods was not customary as a punishment, though persons were imprisoned (Gen. 39:20; 2 Kings 25:27; Jer. 37:4, 18). Punishment was needed in the government of the nation of Israel, as it is in any nation now. God’s four direct punishments were “the sword, the famine, the noisome beast, and the pestilence” (Ezek. 14:21).
The Lord, referring to the law of an individual demanding an eye for an eye, enjoined forgiveness of personal wrongs; but this in no way interferes with civil government. Christians are exhorted to obey the ordained powers, pay tribute, etc.
“Avenger, Avenger of Blood” From Concise Bible Dictionary:
After the flood God gave to Noah the law that “whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed” (Gen. 9:6); and to this day in the East it is considered the solemn duty of the relatives of a slain man to see that his blood is avenged. The law made a distinction between murder and man-slaughter: when a person was killed accidentally the man-slayer could run to a City of Refuge and be protected. God has invested man with governmental authority to carry out this universal command, which was given long before the law by Moses, and which has never been repealed or relaxed. In the New Testament the magistrate bears not the sword in vain, for he is the minister of God for the punishment of evil-doers (Rom. 13).
Under the law of Moses it was enacted “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” (Matt. 5:38; Ex. 21:24). With the Christian it is quite different: having been dealt with in grace, he must act also in grace towards others. The word to him is “Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord” (Rom. 12:19; Rev. 6:10; Rev. 19:2). Now it is the day of grace; but there is a day of vengeance coming for those that “know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:8). The duty of a Christian in not avenging himself in no way clashes with the exercise of the government of God by magistrates, who derive their authority from Him, in repressing and punishing evil.
Strong’s Dictionary of Greek Words:
Transliteration:
ekdikesis
Meaning:
from 1556; vindication, retribution
KJV Usage:
(a-, re-)venge(-ance), punishment